The actions of New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin are
irrelevant to anything but the "lessons learned" discussion.
No one will be living in or visiting New Orleans anytime soon; their response to the next catastrophic disasters will not endanger any of us for the foreseeable future.
Those of us living in hurricane- or earthquake-prone areas, and those of us living near prime terrorist targets, will not be calling on Mayor Nagin when the next crisis occurs. We will be calling on the feds, and only federal blunders are relevant to us.
Can we believe Bush, Cheney, Chertoff, et. al. if they instruct us to evacuate or take other preparations? Can we believe them if they say things are under control? That is the only relevant and immediate issue Americans face.